Reduction of anode effect duration in 400kA prebake cells

Abstract

In order to improve energy efficiency and reduce green house gas emissions, the aluminum smelting industry has been continuously working on reducing both anode effect frequency (AEF) and duration (AED). However, there is still a long way to go to achieve zero anode effect (AE) on very high amperage, low specific power consumption cells due to the added complexity of the process. A new program to quickly terminate AEs has been developed by Light Metals Research Centre, the University of Auckland, in conjunction with the efforts of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) to facilitate investment in clean technologies and to accelerate the sharing of energy efficient best practices. A pilot project was initiated to test an automatic Anode Effect Termination (AET) program on 400kA cells in Zhongfu, China. This paper demonstrates the success of the new anode effect termination (AET) program in killing AEs on this cell technology without conflicting with normal cell operations. The resulting decrease in average anode effect duration (AED) is demonstrated.